Whats With All The Talk About Fishing Out Of Season

[Guest]

Are we sure everyone knows that bass, walleye and northern are out of season. Some of you guys keep talking about catching walleye at Hutch and northerns in the channel. What's up with that guys. I'm not talking about the walleyes at the Ford either. It's bad enough a lot of you guys follow the crowd and suck every fish out of the lake. But fishing out of season screws up the population even more. Remember Parley, Red Rock and Swede. If people would have left a few in the lake ,we could have fished those lakes with success this year. This wed site is a great resource, but it also tells every meat hungry,law breaking, poaching, over limit idiot where to harvest for his family of 30 fish fry. Keep some of the honey holes to yourself or your private lake is toast. Don't even tell me this is not true. But if you must ,give it your best shot. Thanks, Westcoast

[Crawlerman]

Indeed. Sometimes people need to broaden their horizons. Altough I catch many game fish out of season, it's by accident. But if you see a large bass or Northern rolling in the shallows at this time of year, I admit it is hard to resist. But there are so many other great fish, like Catfish and Carp, that put up comprobable fights as that of gamefish; and they are open all year. Plus, Slab season will be coming up here soon. What's to complain about? I love panfishing in May, before everything else opens..

[Guest]

Good point Westcoast.

[Lunker]

I agree. Fish for fish in season. As far as the honey holes, often when someone tells of a great spot, they do it through email givin at the forum replies. If someone tells you a good spot, have enough curtesy not to go tell the everbody you know. They tell you to help you fish, not everyone else in the world. We need to trust each other, but need to be given proof that we can. Hope everbody gets what I'm saying.

[Dennis Steele]

If you are so blatant that you are telling people on line that you are targeting fish that are out of season you should be caught.
It is however a fine line between fishing for some species that are in season and those that are not.Basically if your fishing crappies with big spinner baits or sucker minnows I hope you get busted!
I fish for many species this time of year with some techniques that often catch fish that are out of season but I AM TARGETING fish that are in season.Its just easier to play by the rules.

[Guest]

Ah yes the Basspastors favorite topic of dissent. I find the notion that all fishing for a species out of season is being unethical and unsportsmanlike to be arguments of absurdity. Illegal doesn't necessarily translate into unethical or wrong. Keeping fish out of season yes, but to outlaw catch and release fishing is lame and I think carries zero biological credibility. I'll freely admit to throwing spinnerbaits and crankbaits once pike season opens in the hopes of catching bass and pike. Or throwing beetle spins, minispinnerbaits, and small rapala's during this time in the hopes of catching mostly bass and few big crappies during this time. I like that term "dual use" we kept hearing about Iraq's infrastrutcture. If a CO were to ask, I'm fishing for the one's in season and that's my story, but I will admit that I am catching the one's out of season.

From my viewpoint, the ethics of sportsmanship are derived from resource conservation rather than from the mostly abitrarily imposed and unenforcible system that the seasonal regulations are made. I am perfectly willing to pitch dual use lures through the loop holes, so long as I am not hurting the resource, which C&R does not do.

[This message has been edited by Basspastor (edited 04-06-2003).]

[fubar]

Basspastor

If you are not using barb less hooks during your (Dual) use times, then you are an *sspastor, not a Basspastor. Everyone knows that a good treble can tear up a fish’s mouth & gills, even if you are planning to release accidental catches. If you are using barb less hooks than I commend for using fore thought in this matter, other wise move to different state and look for loopholes there.

[Walleye_GFA]

Here I was going to say that I dont see anyone saying they fish out of season, and most of us are lawful... to quit your whinning....

Then someone actually posts that he targets out of season fish...

The law is the law no matter if you agree with it or not... MAYBE IT SHOULD BE CATCH AND RELEASE AND NOT CLOSED SEASON, BUT THEY HAVE TO SAY "OK NO FISHING FOR THEM AT ALL" BECAUSE SOME PEOPLE PUSH THE LAW THE WAY IT IS...

When you fish out of season, you hurt us all... DO I think its stupid to have a closed season in MN, for the most part yes (but it CANT HURT the fish #'s (closed season that is)), but do I think its important to follow the RULES AND LAWS for everyone... absolutley !!!!!

Maybe they would relax some of these laws except for the people who already push it a "little", but they cant cause then those people would push it a little and keep some...

I've never had any issues with you BP, matter of fact I think I would like to fish with ya from our emails and conversations, but the laws are there for everyone, dont ike them, change them, dont just do your own thing,... what would happen if we all only adhered tothe laws we chose to ???

Food for though...

;-)

W_GFA

[Ole #1]

I just use 1/2 of a night crawler on a slip bobber for crappies or sunnies, and it's a bonus if I catch a bass, walleye or pike.

I am fishing for sunnies and crappies, but hoping for walleyes or bass, is that wrong?

Ole

[Aquaman01]

One thing the seasons are in place for is to let gamefish species sucessfully spawn unmolested.

Fighting in a northern on panfish tackle may wear it out too much to do it's job. For all I know, the enzyme that allows pike eggs to cling to rushes may have a quality correlation to the amount of stress that fish is subjected to.

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Aquaman
<')}}}}}><{
Peace and Fishes

[ricqik]

Alot of us try our best to follow the regulation, sometimes it's unavoidable. We have no control over what's biting. I can recall fishing for crappies and 90% of the bites was small 8-10" bass. Am I breaking the law if I continue to fish there even though the crappies aren't biting as well as the bass?

About sucking every fish out of the lake. Who are you badger us for keeping what we want so long as it's legal. I've encountered many people like that harrass other fisherman just because they kept their some fish or their limit. They should be congradulated for their catch. Many fish as a sport, many fish for table fare. One should never look down at another just because his opinion differs yours. Don't force your beliefs onto others.

There are days I go out and fish for fun, and there are days I will bring home my limit. I pratice catch & release as well as catch and eat. I know how it feels like at both ends of the rod because I do both.

[DTro]

I would say the vast majority of people that are fishing before season are the ones that love to fish, and of these people most recognize the value of managing the specific species. We just want to fish! Having said that, a season is a season, and a law is a law. I realize different species spawn at different times, but a solution would be to have an all species opener. Sure it might affect spawning, but don't we fish cats during spawn? Out of season enforcement would be sooo much easier.
Not to change the topic but don't we also hunt deer during the rut?
Just my thoughts.

[Maximum12]

Well said, Walleye_GFA.

Basspastor, if the seasons closed have zero biological credibility, could you show us your degree or share some of your accumulated wisdom with us? How did you reach this brilliant conculsion?
I pray one of those trebles gets stuck somewhere non-fatal & really uncomfortable. Sooner rather than later.

[Walleye_GFA]

I mean no ill feelings, and getting hooked hurts real bad (got my bro in the nose once, horrible)... just if I cant fish out of season, nobody should !!! lol

No, its not wrong or against the law to fish and catch non-season fish adn release... but its another thing to state you're intentionally violating the law...

There was an article in the Star Tribune that the closed season is more for tradition "Opener" than anything, but lets all play by same rules...

Also, I read through but does it say you cant keep in the off season, or cant even fish for ???

GOOD FISHING RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER.... CABIN FEVER IN APRIL SUCKS !!!!!

W_GFA

[Cyberfish]

Maximum, unless we get a warm spring, most bass spawn in late may and early june, after the season opens. I would agree that walleye and pike are protected during the spawn though.

[vern]

Every spring I see this on the upper Mississippi. While I'm fishing for cats or suckers, there are people all around me catching smallies on jigs & crankbaits. When I've confronted them they just laugh it off or tell me they are fishing for crappies or cats. Yeah right. I'm fishing cut-bait & they're throwing rattle traps. It's funny because they always look nervous & they look around a lot to see if anyone's watching. Maybe you don't agree with the laws & it probably doesn't hurt the fishery, but it's not fair to the rest of us who follow the rules. I'd love to get in on that smallmouth action too, but the season's closed! At least wait until the pike season opens. Vern

[Guest]

Many of you that complain about other fisherman for driving to close to you while you're fishing...or closing in on your spots while you're fishing are the same morons that are fishing out of season.

I cant believe you would make excuses for someone who does because "they just love to fish".

Someone else says that seeing a big bass or northern in the shallows this year is "just hard to resist". It BETTER be hard to resist!!! Its ILLEGAL!!!

Absolutely ridiculous...where do some of you draw the line on the laws you follow?

[wastewaterguru]

Wow, this sounds alot like a similar conversation from last year.......

I have only a couple things to say regarding this topic.....

1. If you feel comfortable breaking the law, and risking the consequences of being caught than that's your business.

2. If you don't than don't....

3. If you brag about breaking the law....you aren't the brightest bulb on the tree....and someone forgot to water the tree.....and the wires on the lights are exposed and sparking........Get the picture.

4. If you see it happen.......report it! Get a boat license number and report it.....Don't be an idiot and confront someone you don't know on the water.....that has just proven he isn't afraid to break the law.......and bodies are hard to find in the lake....unless you're an avid and experienced road rager (which it appears that some of you are), than go ahead and beat the crap out of eachother cause the world is better off without both of you.

5. If you want the law changed than write a petition or write you're congressman or do something productive.....because rambling on this site is just that.........rambling.

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I fish.....Therefore I grovel.

Here....Fisheeeeeeee!!

[vern]

Hey Wastewater, when I say confront somebody, I'm not talking about getting violent. But I'll say something when the guy next to me is casting a Shad Rap, catching smallie after smallie & then tells me how great the fishing is. I see that every spring in a river spot I fish. How do you ignore that? I just like to remind them that targeting those smallies out of season is illegal. They know they're guilty, but they get away with it because everyone else is doing it & no one says anything. Sometimes we have to police ourselves, because the CO's can't cover all this water. I'm a fan of the TIP hotline too. Vern

[wastewaterguru]

You telling me that some guy throwing baits out of season right next to you is gonna give a #### when you tell him he's fishing illegally........

You might AT BEST get him to move down or up river a little before throwing his bait again but he aint gonna stop.

What happens when you try to calmly inform someone on the road that they didn't signal when they should have.......They give you the finger...than you get pissed...then it gets ugly..........

It all starts with a decision by you to realize that you're actions aren't gonna change this guys illegal ways because you're not the enforcement agency that he's looking over his shoulder for. You're more likely gonna start something that you have no reason to start. Just make the call and let him go on his way.

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I fish.....Therefore I grovel.

Here....Fisheeeeeeee!!

[This message has been edited by wastewaterguru (edited 04-07-2003).]

[northernpiker]

There is plenty of water that is open for game fish all year. The mississippi river valley is open all year for catch and release. I even caught a 20 pound carp on a huge bucktail this year(still wouldn't try to argue with a DNR officer I was fishing for carp with bucktails). People just need to use common sense. If I catch 10 bass on a jig and minnow combo and no crappie, I need to relocate. If I catch a mix of panfish, crappie, and a couple bass, I dont feel I'm breaking any law.

[Guest]

Ditto's to everyone on the laws and ethics. If you LOVE to FISH so much there are plently of species to catch during the off season. You have the whole open season to go back to that lake and spot. Without laws we all would be eating CARP!!

There comes a time when you need to say something to these people. Maybe if enough people say something it would help???? Probably not, but 2 violations in 3 years they loose their PRIVILEGE for a year.

What an excuse!!!
"From my viewpoint, the ethics of sportsmanship are derived from resource conservation rather than from the mostly abitrarily imposed and unenforcible system that the seasonal regulations are made. I am perfectly willing to pitch dual use lures through the loop holes, so long as I am not hurting the resource, which C&R does not do."

Ditto Max12,
"Basspastor, if the seasons closed have zero biological credibility, could you show us your degree or share some of your accumulated wisdom with us? How did you reach this brilliant conculsion?"

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Good luck.

[catchin'whopper]

I think MN should have a C&R for bass but since this state won't do that for a long time, or ever about this. Would only make sense, i go up to Brainerd memorial weekend for Bass Opener and they typically are all over the shallows, so it negates the idea of a "closed season" anyway!

How about this: Why not go to wisconsin and bass fish for may there? For all of May for the last 5 years or so, i am so giddy to be catching some great bass that i go there. South of County 70 i think in WI catch and release bass season is open for the whole month. if you want to eat them, i think it changes in june. either way i don't care i hate cleaning fish, it takes too much time, so pretty i pretty much release all.

I belong to a BASS affiliated club and fish small club and state tournaments so i am not claiming to be a pro nor a biologist. But reading extensively on the subject of bass tournaments done during the spawning period all over the south, there is little evidence that seems to be put out there that they are harming the fishery.

For anyone nitpicking this post: I am NOT advocating keeping fish during the spawn when they are on there beds.

As long as you land a bass quick and get it back, typically you see it go back to its bed its on. Is bed fishing like shooting fish in a barrel? it definitely can be. Unethical? To some, but for the sake of argument, maybe in my opinion killing a deer is (it's not). How does spearing through the ice not compare to what some say can be easy pickens on beds. I am not looking to debate this, but how is waiting 5 hours for a big northern swim through a spear hole and actually spear it (not rod and reel) more ethical then LEGALLY fishing a bedding fish that is sitting there? FIsh don't always bite when they are on their beds anyway but if they are doing the deed i have enough respoect to turn the other way. It is more fun to catch the prespawners anyway, the ones in schools and cruising around.

Well anyway lots of preaching on here from everyone, gets boring to read and i am not helping by including a long post. Basically, just go buy a wisconsin license for $20 and do the same legally out there and cast your crappie rapalas. they do have fantastic lakes just on the west side of the state you know.

[This message has been edited by catchin'whopper (edited 04-07-2003).]

[Walleye_GFA]

To anyone who wants information search the DNR and Star Tribune websites, they have some great articles about the fact that there is no real NEED for a closed season, but it certainly does not hurt things...

Also the reason its "bad" to take a bass off a nest is predation while they are away... the DNR states that predation is somewhere between 30% and 80% (of fry) when a bass is pulled off a bed... also that smallmouths dont spawn every year... the males in particular skip a year or two...

But it also stated that the amount of predation caused by anglers removing the the male from the nest is negligable...

I personally would / will sigh fish for bass, but use caution in doing so... BUT NOT IN THE CLOSED SEASON FOR GODS SAKE....

;-)

W_GFA

[catchin'whopper]

Good Points Wally.

[Ole #1]

Ole eye,

I am no Sally and I'm not affriad of confrontation, but I still wouldn't tell someone that they were doing something illegal. There is a real good chance that the person will get very mad and even violent, and it's just not worth it. If you really don't like it when someone fishes out of season, bring a cell phone and call the CO. That is the only way something will actually get done.

Just my 2 cents.

Nice name.

Ole

[Guest]

Yea I hear ya Ole. People can be !@#holes. I hope I don't sound like one. Just get tired of people abusing the system and this is just one of the many. Get a little older each year, maybe it's the ole blood/my Dad/Army/experiences/politics/etc... fermenting inside. I always have the cell and will call. But now I feel I should say something. A few years back I probably would have said nothing.

Ditto's on the Ole!

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Good luck.

[Ole #1]

I hear ya Ole,

It makes me mad sometimes too. If I lived on a lake that someone was fishing illegally, I would call the CO and say something to them. It's a totally different ballgame as far as confrontation goes, when it's the lake you live on. That's just defending your own property in one way or another.

Ole

[fishlakeman]

I have never given out a honeyhole on any lake I have had sucess on, because I strongly feel it deteriorates lakes when a hundred fish houses plant on a spot that once was a secret. I always give good advice on what depth or type of structure, and lure to use, because people give them to me, and I should return the favor. As far as fishing out of season, I don't object fishing for out of season fish with barbless hooks. When I crappie fish, and start catching bass, I may switch to a small mepps, where I still catch crappies, but increase my chance of catching bigger bass. I clip the barbs off the mepps to ensure fish survivial. I have never caught a bass that has died when I released it. I also might add, I have never kept a bass in or out of season my entire life. In a spawning bay I have fished my entire life, I have never kept a crappie out of it, because I'm concerned about the future of this lake. My point is, I feel it's alright to responsibly fish for bass out of season, even though I am probably one of the biggest conservationist out of all of you.

[Sturgeon46]

Fishlakeman. . . How in the world do you know that you've never caught a bass that has died after you released it?